Seer had always talked about going to Capri, but neither of us are shoppers. We checked the island off the coast of Italy out and decided it would be a fabulous place to spend a few days hiking. No backpacks or camping, instead we would find a hotel and explore the island on foot. At the east end of the Island is the Villa Jovis, ruins of an ancient Roman party palace. Rising more than 2000 feet in the center of the island is Mt. Solara. We figured we could stay in between and easily hike to both.We booked airline tickets using frequent flyer miles so the story of getting there is where we’ll start.
We had a layover in Philadephia before the alnight flight to Milan. I know Capri is off the coast from Naples. We had to fly from Milan to Naples on a AirOne, a regional airline. If you ever go to Milan, follow the herd getting off the airplane. We were supposed to pick up our boarding passes for AirOne in the airport. Getting off the plane the signs said Baggage Claim and connecting gates. We only had carryon items so we didn’t need baggage claim. Granted, the hallway to baggage claim was lit and the hallway to connecting gates was dark, but there were a couple of uniformed guards by the access, so as everyone else headed toward baggage claim, we walked over to the guards and explained that we needed to get our tickets at AirOne. He didn’t know what we were talking about, but after looking over the itenerary in my hand, he let us through a turnstile to a hallway and stairway that lead to a large waiting area adjacent the duty free shop. Spotting the information desk, we confidently asked for directions. The maid who was cleaning up told me the staff would arrive in half an hour, so we could take a seat. When, the next attendant arrived, She looked at us as if we had extra heads and informed us, she did not know of any AirOne, but we could ask the ticket agents at the kioks at the gates. Note that we had not gone through customs, had not shown our passports to any one and were wandering around an Italian airport with no clue as to where to get our tickets for the next flight.